This name is a killer

From CNN via AP:

The movie “Murderball” has all the makings of a big hit: Tough guys, violence, a little sex and a U.S. sports team overcoming long odds. Reviews have been fabulous.

So why aren’t more people going to see it?

“Murderball” is the true story of the U.S. wheelchair rugby team, and the stars are real-life quadriplegic athletes. Their sport, also called quad rugby, is as much demolition derby as anything.

Ticket sales have been slow in comparison to the movie’s buzz, and the distributor worries that America just isn’t ready for a frank documentary — even a really good one — about guys in wheelchairs.

“The only explanation is that people don’t want to see something about handicapped people. There is some resistance,” said Mark Urman, head of the theatrical division at the New York-based THINKFilm.

The majority of people make a decision to go to a film based on two or three top-line cues. The name “Murderball” immediately appeals to exactly the audience who has no interest in this particular subject matter, they think “Woo-hoo! The new Van Damme pic!” and are disappointed when it’s not. The audience that would like to see a film like this sees the name on a marquee and thinks “Oh no, the new Van Damme pic.” It sounds like “Rollerball 3”.

Cheeky blush name from Nars

Orgasm is not the type of word to be used recklessly when naming. Unless orgasm is attached to exactly the right product for exactly the right reason, it’s the type of name that would effectively come off as desperate and cloying (see Twattygirl), rendering it ineffectual.

Yesterday’s NY Times magazine brings us the story of an orgasm well spent:

Choosing a product based on color is perfectly reasonable. The choice may be subjective, but it’s also rational: the color you like best is the color you like best. So fans of, for example, a certain $25 shade of blush offered by a cosmetics company called Nars simply like that shade, and that’s why it has attracted a strong rating and by far the most reviews among blush shoppers who post on MakeupAlley.com. The fact that the shade happens to be called Orgasm doesn’t affect the consumer’s reaction to the actual color, which would be the same no matter what it was called.

Actually, we all know that isn’t quite true, and buyers of cosmetics probably know it better than most. Paula Begoun, who has written several consumer-oriented books about makeup and skin-care products, says that exotic or even baffling names have been part of the category at least since the 1950’s. With a lot of makeup, there isn’t really much to pay attention to besides color and texture, so a name that stands out means a product that stands out. ‘’Calling a color tan or mauve,’’ she observes, ‘’is just boring and banal.’’ This happens in many product categories (even paint colors have names like Garden Clogs and Squirrel’s Tail), but the practice is particularly noteworthy in the outlandish, sensational or nonsensical quality of makeup names. Benefit Cosmetics, which made its name with its names, now has top sellers like Me, Myself & I eye shadow. Urban Decay Lip Gunk comes in a color called Gash. Nars also sells a blush called Deep Throat.

Two marketing professors — Barbara Kahn of the Wharton School and Elizabeth Gelfland Miller of Boston College — have conducted some experiments to try to figure out what sort of effect mysterious names of colors and flavors have on consumers. They divided such names into categories: typical color names might be either ‘’common,’’ like dark green, or ‘’common descriptive,’’ like pine green; atypical names could be either ‘’unexpected descriptive’’ (Kermit green) or flat-out ‘’ambiguous’’ (friendly green). Nars Orgasm blush is certainly an atypical name, although I will leave it to the reader to decide whether it falls under ‘’unexpected descriptive’’ or simply ‘’ambiguous.’’

Kahn and Miller found that unusual names were more popular, unless the person was distracted during the process of choosing — that is, the unexpected won out when subjects were given the opportunity to think about it, as a shopper at a cosmetics counter generally does. Kahn suspected that certain words (like anything to do with sex) would always spark positive responses. But instead, the key seemed to be unexpectedness itself, which essentially engages the consumer in an attempt to solve the puzzle of the name. This rapid, essentially unconscious cognitive process, Kahn and Miller wrote recently in The Journal of Consumer Research, ‘’results in additional (positive) attributions about the product and thus, a more favorable response.’’ This seems to affect not only whether a person chooses to buy something but also, oddly, how much she enjoys it.

Kahn and Miller cite two theories of mental processing that may be at work. In the case of ‘’unexpected descriptive’’ names, we may be able to solve the puzzle to our satisfaction. With the more logic-defying names, we essentially conclude that there must be some reason for it, and given the circumstances (it’s a product for sale in a market society), the reason must be positive. A spokeswoman for Nars declined to share the company’s reasons for calling blush Orgasm or Deep Throat, perhaps sensing that the mystery is good for business.

Here is the article’s most important bit:

But instead, the key seemed to be unexpectedness itself, which essentially engages the consumer in an attempt to solve the puzzle of the name. This rapid, essentially unconscious cognitive process, Kahn and Miller wrote recently in The Journal of Consumer Research, ‘’results in additional (positive) attributions about the product and thus, a more favorable response.’’

A spot on observation. It comes down to making sure that puzzle is not too easy nor too difficult to solve. It’s about making the gap wide enough for your audience to lean forward and make the leap, but not so wide they have nowhere to land. If it is too short a jump it’s not interesting, too long and no one will even attempt the journey. And it is all about making sure that puzzle is multi-layered and contextual.

Nars is smart not telling you why the name was chosen. Once a magic trick is explained it’s just not the same. But we’re stupid so here goes.

In the context of blush, orgasm summons the idea of cheeks flush with that glowing afterglow, a happy, satisfying shade of red, exactly the specific act women are asking blush to perform.

The other layer to the name is that the whole point of using cosmetics is to help a girl maneuver into a position where an orgasm is possible, making the name a home run.

Editor’s note: Normally we would not reprint an entire article as above, but this is without question the best article on naming we have ever come across.